Aproveitamento das águas salobras subterrâneas do semi-árido nordestino utilizando as tecnologias de dessalinização com osmose reversa e energia fotovoltáica

Abstract

The Brazilian Northeast, in the semi-arid region, in the last decades, has experienced a severe water shortage, due to prolonged droughts, with worse prospects of this scenario due to the climate itself, aggravated by global warming. This project, titled Utilization of the underground brackish waters of the northeastern semiarid region using desalination technologies with reverse osmosis and photovoltaic energy, aims to provide alternatives to assist in the solution of socioenvironmental problems, inspired by the Água Doce Program, using the available technologies, ie Reverse Osmosis and Photovoltaic Cells, as well as the natural resources existing in the region, in line with the sustainability premise. In order to meet this purpose, a multiple case study was carried out in ten artesian wells in five northeastern states with different dissolved salt contents, located in the states of Ceará, Paraíba, Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco, two wells by State. The desalination method adopted was the process of separation of salts, through membranes of the Reverse Osmosis station, which consists in making the water containing high dissolved salts pass through the filter medium, generating two streams: one free of excess salts for human consumption and another rich in mineral salts, called tailings. However, this project is dedicated only to the first stream, that is, the permeate. For the calculations of the Reverse Osmosis station the Dow Chemical's Rosa® software was used and for the calculations of the Photovoltaic system the method of the Blue-sun Manual - Introduction to Photovoltaic Solar Energy Systems was used. The result of the research demonstrated the technical feasibility, which can be implemented in loco, that is, there is possibility of pumping and treatment of brackish water, transforming it into drinking water.